The Jefferson boys put together what their star player called the most complete basketball game for long while to dump Prairie 66-55 Thursday night at home to end both teams’ regular season.

The J-Hawks (13-8, 9-7 MVC) now await the winner between Marshalltown and Mason City for a home tilt next Friday in the second round of Substate 3 tournament play.

Meanwhile, the Prairie Hawks (9-12, 5-11 MVC) have a rubber match at Iowa City High Monday in round one of Substate 6. The teams split their series this season.

Jeff senior playmaker Taylor Olson, who once again led his team with 23 points Thursday, felt the troops showed an extra spring in their step on Senior Night.

"We came out with a lot of energy right off the bat,” he said. “We’ve kind of been slumping the last few games.  But tonight, we had a different kind of swagger. We were playing with confidence like we did at the beginning of the season.”

The 6-foot-1 inside and out offensive threat scored 11 points early as Jefferson spurted out to a 27-13 lead.  He also sank a straight-on bank shot from way behind the half-court line at the end of the third quarter, but the officials said he didn't beat the buzzer.

Prairie had an uphill struggle the whole way, mostly because of an inability to put the ball in the basket.

“For some reason, nothing was falling for us tonight,” said senior Hawk Matt MacDougall, who was held to two points on just three shot attempts in the first half and finished with a team-high 12 points.

They were missing easy shots in the first half. Then when they went to the three-ball, they missed those, too.  For the night, Prairie was 21 for 64 (33 percent), including a dismal six for 27 from long range.

“I don’t know if it was our defense, our crowd or merely the Gods of basketball,” Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said of the opponents’ poor shooting.

The J-Hawks shot an even 50 percent, with five for 12 from behind the arc.

“I thought we had much better ball movement tonight,” Ordman said, “and we worked for better shots.”

Despite the disparity in field goal accuracy, it was a pretty even game, otherwise.  Each team committed just nine turnovers.  Jeff led in rebounding 31 to 29, although Ordman was disturbed that a dozen of Prairie’s boards came on the offensive end.  He was pleased with Justin Underwood’s rebounding off the bench, along with his seven points.

Diminutive Creighton Robinson scored 10 points, including two long bombs. Senior Tyer Hemphill had a big night with 16 points, many of them coming on slashing drives.

“He likes to cut,” Olson said. “We’ve been playing together since sixth grade, so I know when to get him the ball when he’s going to the basket."

Between the two of them, they helped the J-Hawks maintain a 29-20 lead at half.

Prairie cut the margin to six with 5:40 to go in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Jacob Aune. But that was as close as they came.

Jefferson went on a 10-0 run and coasted from there.

Prairie assistant coach Jeff Zittergruen was running the team in the absence of head coach James Moses, who was suspended after being ejected from Tuesday's game against Cedar Falls.  Zittergruen said the Hawks never found their rhythm against the J-Hawks.

“Give Jefferson credit for controlling the tempo of the game,” Zittergruen said. “We like to push the ball. But defensively, they kept it at a half-court game.

“We had a problem with their zone defense. And when we did get open looks, we didn’t take advantage of them.

“We got behind, and we just never could close the gap.”

PRAIRIE (55): Jacob Aune 3 0-2 8, Brooks Kehoe 1 0-0 3, Jace Hanna 3 4-5 11, Matt MacDougall 5 1-1 12, Tom Eilers 2 1-1 6, DeMetrius Harper 2 1-4 5, Kentrel Smith 3 0-0 6, JoJo Simpson 2 0-0 4, Bryce Meeker 0 0-0 0,. Totals 21 7-13 55.

JEFFERSON (66): Ky Kramer 3 0-0 6, Tyler Hemphill 7 1-4 16, Taylor Mueller 1 0-0 3, Taylor Olson 7 8-10 23, Austin Goodell 0 0-0 0, Jacob Olson 0 0-0 0, Creighton Robinson 3 2-2 10, Layne Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Christian Knox 0 0-0 0, Terrance Taylor 0 1-2 1, Justin Underwood 3 1-4 7. Totals 24 13-22 66.

Halftime – Jefferson 29, Prairie 20. 3-point goals – Prairie 6 (Aune 2, Kehoe, Hanna, MacDougall, Eilers), Jefferson 5 (Robinson 2, Hemphill, Mueller, T. Olson). Total fouls – Prairie 20, Jefferson 15. Fouled out – none.